This isn't going to erode privacy much more than a phone in your pocket is.

Clearly Apple should sue the producers for intellectual property infringement.

Profiting from my information and selling my information are different things. I don't believe Google has ever sold user data to anyone.

Its not blind complacency I have. I really wish there were a way to share anonymised location data, anonymised email addresses and anonymised contact lists and with ALL these guys. I want the benefits but not the privacy implications as much as the next guy. I just happen to believe that Google still has its hippy "for the user" mentality at heart whereas Apple and Facebook are out to get what they can. Maybe I'm delusional? *shrug*

I work for myself but I do use Google Apps for Gmail. Just don't understand all the Google-bashing of late. People seem to forget all the services they get for free are paid for by ads which are only valuable because they are somehow targeted, be that by search terms, location, or whatnot... Google Search, Youtube, Android, Chrome, Picasa, Gmail, ... Consider me confused...

Tin foil hats all round!

I guess thats part of it but. But also because they haven't given me a good reason not to believe them unlike everyone else. Its a lesser of N evils thing in my mind and looking ANY tech company, I rate Google up there as the most trustworthy. Of course things could change but right now we have:

• Apple records data without telling users they are doing it, what its for or what they collect. Change their policies every second week and they're too long for people to actually read them.
• Facebook has a history of setting privacy too low by default and wants to make a walled garden.
• Microsoft used to be evil towards other businesses but have a fairly good privacy track record AFAICR. They are slowly changing their business ways largely thanks to competitive pressure from from Google and Linux.
• Sony sues people who try to unlock the machines they own, install root kits on music CDs and loses millions of private account details due to poor system design.
• Google recorded unencrypted wifi traffic from streetview cars (apparently by accident and with no believable business case otherwise, its probably the truth).

I'm not trying to be a "fanboi" and I'm still confused. You've listed what I gain but what exactly have I lost? My privacy? Don't I already lose that to Facebook and Apple? My point still stands.

Yeah, true. :) I didn't say they were innocent, just that it was blown out of proportion.

Really? Please point me to one piece of solid evidence to that effect. If you can I'll run and delete my Google accounts right now. They sell ads so sure, they probably target ads with some model made from aggregate location data from lots of users but I have never found anything to suggest that they sell, or would ever sell this data to third parties. There is just too much for them to lose. They built their brand on the respect of the tech industry. Why would they ever throw that away? It would be stupid.

Also, that smart phone is likely loaded with crapware that is difficult or impossible to uninstall. The manufacturer/carrier is making money from that and you can bet your bottom dollar that the carriers are tracking you for network-planning and what-not but you'll never be able to opt-out of that. The difference with all this stuff comes down to the way its implemented. *IF* its done in a way to secure your privacy (e.g. by purposely randomising your location within a certain distance and not storing any personally identifiable information) then it adds value to YOU. It can give you better results in searches and a better user experience. The problem is when companies start collecting it to their advantage without making it available to others. Apple seems to have secretive plans for their iPhone location data and Facebook have a history of not sharing. Out of the three, I'm glad my data is with Google. At least they tell me what they record and give me the option to delete it or opt out.

...and let me preempt the trolls. The street-view fiasco was soooo blown out of proportion. It makes perfect sense that if you are collecting wifi data that you just record what you hear and process it offline when the cars get back to the garage.

Its no surprise that if you know where someone is you can deliver more targeted results. Is this really news? Besides, Google has a good track record of protecting consumer privacy and making it clear what they collect. Apple collected all their data without telling users and Facebook has a track record of both violating privacy as default policy and refusing to share it with others.

That saying is quite fitting here across all parts of societ.y Japanese, in general, don't change format of anything. Once a business model works, they ride it out until they go bankrupt. Notable exceptions exist (Nintendo used to make playing cards but saw that market was dying.) but in the time I've been here I've seen the massive companies (unrelated to gaming) go bankrupt just because they were either arrogantly ignorant of the changing landscape or run with a culture of "don't rock the boat" which only makes change harder and harder the bigger they get.

Typical Microwave ovens operate at up to 1000W @ 2.4Ghz. Typical WiFi operates at 20mW @ 2.4Ghz. Yes, a Microwave oven is shielded in a metal box but 20mW is only 1/50,000th of the power of a microwave so even the slighest noisy leak from the microwave is going to look like some serious noise to the WiFi. At my parents place, the range of the WiFi drops in half whenever the Microwave is on.